Man who posed as coronavirus patient flees Delhi hospital, caught

"The doctors had collected his sample and were testing it but he left. After we received information from the hospital about the man, we traced his phone and found him in Rai. We then sent a team and brought him back to Delhi,” a senior police officer said.

New Delhi Municipal Corporation along with the Fire Service sanitize the C Hexagon at India Gate on Friday. (Express photo/Abhinav Saha)

Delhi Police apprehended a 22-year-old man who had claimed to be a coronavirus patient when he was arrested earlier while carrying liquor, and later fled from Delhi’s Lok Nayak Hospital.

The police said the man was earlier arrested along with his associate at Shadipur area on April 10 amid the ongoing lockdown. To evade the arrest, the man then allegedly told the police that he was a Covid-19 patient.

Sanjay Bhatia, DCP (central), said, “We had caught two men near Shadipur picket with illicit liquor on April 10. The men were carrying liquor in milk cartons and were going to their hometown in Haryana. They also had a curfew pass but it wasn’t signed by the District Magistrate. During the interrogation, one of the accused said that his aunt had died of coronavirus last week in Kharkhoda, Haryana. He said he had also attended her funeral.”

Following this, the man was first taken to Lady Hardinge hospital where the doctors collected his sample. He was then shifted to Lok Nayak Hospital for a 14-day quarantine. He was tested there as well.

Meanwhile, the police conducted an inquiry and found out that the man’s aunt was alive and that she is not infected with the virus. The report from Lady Hardinge hospital also said the man had tested negative for the virus.

“Before the police could question the man, he fled from the hospital on Wednesday. The man was later found in Rohtak, where he works at a crockery store. He was brought back to Delhi. We haven’t arrested him yet because we are still waiting for the test reports from Lok Nayak,” said DCP Bhatia.

The police said the man went back to Rohtak on foot. His family members, who were contacted, said they didn’t meet him recently, police added.